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Doncaster Sheffield Airport

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Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield
File:DSA logo.gif

Doncaster Sheffield Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorDoncaster Sheffield Airport Limited/Peel Airports
ServesSouth Yorkshire
LocationFinningley
Elevation AMSL55 ft / 17 m
Coordinates53°28′29″N 001°00′16″W / 53.47472°N 1.00444°W / 53.47472; -1.00444
Websitewww.robinhoodairport.com
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
02/20 2,893 9,491 Asphalt
Statistics (2006)
Aircraft Movements10,642
Passengers899,000
Sources:UK AIP
Statistics from the UK CAA.[1]

Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield (IATA: DSA, ICAO: EGCN) is an international airport located at the former RAF Finningley airbase in Finningley, South Yorkshire, England. The airport lies 6 nautical miles southeast of Doncaster and eighteen miles (29 km) east of Sheffield. The Airport principally serves the metropolitan counties of South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.

History

Main article: RAF Finningley

The airport's opening was marked by the first commercial flight, destined for Palma in Majorca, which departed exactly on time at 0915 on April 28, 2005. The Captain of the first flight from Robin Hood Airport was Paul Rafferty of Thomsonfly[1]. The airport expected to see at least one million passengers during 2006. Three months after opening the airport had handled 300,000 passengers, by December 2005 the figure rose to 500,000 and within 60 weeks after opening, the airport had cumulatively handled over 1 million passengers. The figure for calendar year 2006 was 899,000, putting the airport in 23rd position in the UK. As of August 2007 the airport had handled 2.28 million passengers since opening.

Today

Doncaster Sheffield Airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P876) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.

The majority of flights from the airport are operated by Thomsonfly, however flights are also operated by Thomas Cook Airlines, Pegasus Airlines, Air Europa, BH Air, Wizz Air, Flybe, Flyglobespan, Onur Air and Ryanair. On 28 March 2006 Ryanair announced an expansion of their services from Doncaster, with additional flights to Pisa and Girona. On 26 June 2006, Flybe announced it was establishing a twice daily service from Doncaster to Belfast City Airport from October 2006. In September 2006, Flyglobespan announced that from Summer 2007, weekly flights from Doncaster would commence to Toronto, Canada, this being the first scheduled long-haul destination served from Doncaster. Also Wizzair have announced they are to start a four times weekly service to Gdansk and increase the frequency of the Katowice route to four times weekly both from July 2007. In late November 2006 Goldtrail Holidays announced that they would be flying to Dalaman from the Airport during summer 2007 using Onur Air. Wizz Air also announce during June 2007 that they are to fly twice weekly to Poznan from 31 January 2008. They also later announced on 3 July that they will be flying a twice weekly service to Wroclaw from February 2008. On the 9 August 2007, Ryanair announced its fourth route to operate from the airport, a 3 times per week service to Alicante. On 21 November 2007 Flybe announced their second route to Jersey from the airport, to commence from 30 March 2008. The announcment came as Thomsonfly announced they would discontinue the route on 29 March 2008 due to the limitations of the Jersey runway. On 4 December 2007 Wizz Air announced further expansion at the airport with a three-times weekly service to Warsaw beginning on 1 April 2008.

Facilities

The airport's runway has a length of 2,893 metres (9,491 ft) and a width of 60 metres (197 ft), making it longer and wider than those at many other airports in northern Britain. This capability may make the airport attractive to operators of wide-bodied, long-haul or older cargo-carrying aircraft. The reason the Airport has such a long runway stems from its history as a former long-range nuclear bomber base (see RAF Finningley). The Airport currently has a single runway designated 02/20 and there is significant room for further passenger and cargo capacity expansion when the market requires. Operators Peel Holdings also own Liverpool John Lennon Airport and Durham Tees Valley Airport.

Part of the Airport site is being developed into a Business and Technology Park which could potentially be linked with the M18 motorway via a link road at Junction 3. This in itself might attract further investment into the Region.

Due to open sometime in 2008 is a Ramada Encore chain hotel, which will have 150 bed capacity. Work is also progressing on a new 62 acre business park across from the terminal, which will link to a new access road into the airport via nearby Hurst Lane (which is now open).

Transportation

The Airport is located close to the M18 Motorway, but with no direct link road. Also nearby are the A1(M) Motorway, M62 motorway, M1 motorway roads. A direct motorway road link from the M18 junction 3 to the airport is planned and is expected to open by 2010[2]. There is also a connection from Junction 34 of the A1(M) Motorway. The Airport has 2,500 car parking spaces.

Doncaster station is served by Northern Rail, NXEC, CrossCountry, TransPennine Express, East Midlands Trains and Hull Trains. Doncaster is 1 Hour 35 Mins from London Kings Cross or 20 Mins from Sheffield Station (using direct services). From Doncaster Station several direct bus services transport passengers to the Airport.

In addition, the airport lies alongside the Doncaster to Lincoln railway line, and plans for a station at Finningley to replace that closed in 1961 have been submitted for local planning permission. Doncaster Council are now considering this with a target opening date of 2011.[2]

Public transport is by hourly bus from Doncaster town centre. At present the airport is served by various airport bus links from all major local bus companies. These include:

Airlines and destinations

Scheduled flights

  • Flybe (Belfast-City, Jersey [begins 3 May])
  • Ryanair (Alicante, Dublin, Girona)
  • Thomsonfly (Alicante, Faro, Geneva, Jersey [ends 29 April], Las Palmas, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Salzburg, Tenerife-South)
  • Wizzair (Katowice, Gdańsk, Poznań, Warsaw [begins 1 April], Wrocław)

Charter flights

Summer destinations

Winter destinations

  • Thomsonfly (Alicante, Arrecife, Faro, Geneva, Las Palmas, Malaga, Paphos, Plovdiv, Salzburg, Sharm el Sheikh, Tenerife South, Turin)

Thomsonfly also operate ad-hoc charter flights during the winter for cruise passengers to:

  • Montego Bay (Jamaica)
  • Miami (U.S.A.)

The airport has an email address where new routes can be suggested or requested. This can be found here.

Business jets

There are a number of private business jets based at the airport. Owners include golfers Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke who share a jet and the owners of Meadowhall. Currently Sovereign Air are the sole business jet on-demand operator based at the airport.

Cargo flights

The airport has vast room for the accommodation of cargo flights and is in an ideal location in regards to the motorway network. There is a high amount of space to each side of the airport which is available for development and a wealth of infrastructure which is still in place from RAF Finningley. As of yet the airport does not have a dedicated freight forwarder on site which is something that airlines do not tend to commit to airports without. The airport continues to handle one off ad hoc freight flights only using such aircraft as the A300, DC10, MD11, Boeing 747 and Antonov 124.

The airport in the media

During its first few years of operation, Robin Hood Airport has featured a lot in the media. Numerous articles on its status as the UK's newest international airport have seen it become part of the debate into air tourism and environmental issues. On 24 January 2007, the airport featured in the BBC Two documentary Should I Really Give Up Flying?, with Doncaster celebrity Brian Blessed fronting local opinions on the issue. Robin Hood Airport has also been a filming location for some dramatic scenes featured in Emmerdale. Robin Hood Airport is also the joint sponsor, along with Thomsonfly for ITV News Regional Weather in South Yorkshire.

The airport name

The name is now often simply referred to on travel websites and on other literature as Doncaster/Sheffield Airport or Doncaster Airport, even though the official name is Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield.

The Airport was named 'Robin Hood' based on the following local information:-

  1. The original Robin Hood legends are set in Barnsdale Forest, the area of South Yorkshire which surrounded Doncaster and Pontefract.
  2. This legend is reinforced by the fact that the village pub in nearby Hatfield Woodhouse has always been known as the Robin Hood and Little John
  3. The Airport has a historical reference to Nottinghamshire (as the parish of Finningley was, until 1974 and the Local Government Act 1972, administered as part of Nottinghamshire) and still resides in the boundary of the Diocese of Nottingham. [4]
  4. The Runway extension (completed in 1957) to accommodate Vulcan bombers, extended the airfield into the county of Nottinghamshire.
  5. Some later Robin Hood legends - and the popular 20th century books, fims and TV programmes are set in Sherwood Forest.[5]
  6. The Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster is closer to what is left of Sherwood Forest than the City of Nottingham is. [6]
  7. The forests of Sherwood and Barnsdale merged in this area of Yorkshire. [7]
  8. The name would provide an identity which would raise a lot of attention (if a little controversy) for the Airport and create a marketing opportunity.[8]

The Airport name has caused media controversy as Robin Hood has not during the 20th century been regularly associated with Doncaster; despite the Barnsdale legends, and the references to Robin Hood in pubnames such as the aforementioned Robin Hood and Little John. Many citizens of Nottingham feel that Robin Hood should be the icon of their City alone (despite the fact that it was the Sheriff that came from Nottingham). The reference to Sheffield in the name also caused media controversy as the airport lies some 18 miles (29 km) from the city of Sheffield and has no direct transport links to the city. It does in fact lie within the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster Names that were then suggested by people of the borough and surrounding areas included:

  • Doncaster International Airport
  • South Yorkshire International Airport
  • Finningley International Airport

It is perhaps worth noting that feeling ran so high locally that only visitors refer to the airport as 'Robin Hood' - locals refer to it only as Finningley, (the preferred choice of most locals and also of many who served there during WWII and after, including many Commonwealth and US ex-service personnel) or plain Doncaster Airport.

Also, in terms of aviation communication, the airport is known as Doncaster (Doncaster Radar, Doncaster Tower etc.)

Notes

References

  1. ^ Aircraft movements, Passengers
  2. ^ Doncaster Council draft Access Strategy report, 13th December 2006
  3. ^ "New improved links with the local Lynx" (doc). Stagecoach East Midlands. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  4. ^ Table of parishes and other places in Nottinghamshire, up to 1842
  5. ^ Robin Hood in popular culture
  6. ^ Sherwood Forest County Park map
  7. ^ - Reference to Barnsdale Forest with Map also showing Merger of Forests in this area
  8. ^ - Evidence of Controversy caused by Airport Name and Marketing opportunity
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